Completely agree except for shoes that are made of soft leather or that are unlined. These benefit from lasted shoe trees. I had a pair of unlined suede loafers that lost their shape due to the use of non-lasted trees.

The best deal for trees were the $45 Ralph Lauren purple label Edward Green trees which are now sadly discontinued. Hit the sweet spot for cost/benefit.

Ah, so that's what they used to cost.

Was this the same for Edward Green Lasted trees as well?

Anyway, I located a pair of EG RL trees on eBay for one of my latest purchases which I failed to order trees initially for.

Whoa is me, because getting EG trees now can be quite the hassle if not ordered initially. Who knows what the real wait for these are now.

The functional difference between using no trees at all and using cheap JAB $10 trees is huge. The functional difference between using cheap JAB $10 tress and $150 premium trees, assuming at least reasonably good fit of the former, is quite small. If the two look the same, then for me, there is not a lot of motivation for me to shell out the extra coin for the latter. Perhaps I'm just shallow. Or maybe just pragmatic. Going forward, I'd rather have a pair of the sleek and colourful Skoak trees than these G&G trees. I'm just not seeing the value. Of course others will have a different view and find them a worthwhile expense. Their money, their choice.

Actually I went the Skoak tree route for my Thorpes (Hidden), and the G&G tree route for my yet to arrive St James (Unfortunately Ive yet to see the unadorned G&G trees).

The functional difference between using no trees at all and using cheap JAB $10 trees is huge. The functional difference between using cheap JAB $10 tress and $150 premium trees, assuming at least reasonably good fit of the former, is quite small. If the two look the same, then for me, there is not a lot of motivation for me to shell out the extra coin for the latter. Perhaps I'm just shallow. Or maybe just pragmatic. Going forward, I'd rather have a pair of the sleek and colourful Skoak trees than these G&G trees. I'm just not seeing the value. Of course others will have a different view and find them a worthwhile expense. Their money, their choice.

@TtownMD whoa man, that really sucks. I sincerely hope that everything works out for your stuff. If you don't get the answers you're looking for concerning the shoes, feel free to PM me with pictures and I'll see if I can help you out with some pointers.

Now, I guess the question everyone is asking themselves is, if you're still seeing the same person??

Thank you for your help so far so good kept the shoe stuffed with old newspaper & let them dry naturally away from heat then after it drys give some polish etc and hope,for,the best.

I'll actually have to see how their trees actually fit. But I see this as more of an exception than a rule for me, I generally prefer the branded or lasted trees for EG, G&G, and JL like I said previously.

With you on that one the g&g is cut the way shoe is made so it follows it to that angle at least that's what I see on my g&g shoe trees & shoes etc